Trump Order's Vote-By-Mail Limits Are Unlawful, Judge Rules

By Ben Adlin

A federal judge in Seattle has barred the Trump administration from enforcing key sections of a March executive order on elections, ruling that the government cannot compel Washington and Oregon to change state deadlines for mail-in ballots or use federal forms requiring proof of citizenship.

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Illinois, Minnesota Sue Trump Admin Over DHS Deployments

By Celeste Bott

Illinois and Minnesota sued the Trump administration Monday over the deployment of Border Patrol agents into their respective states, saying their unauthorized use of aggressive border tactics for interior immigration enforcement has violated their constitutional sovereignty, damaged their local economies and caused their residents physical and emotional harm.

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States Fight USDA's Renewed Effort To Cut SNAP Benefits

By Hailey Konnath

A coalition of states has asked a California federal judge to enforce an injunction blocking the U.S. Department of Agriculture from withholding funding from states refusing to share sensitive personal information on food assistance benefit recipients, saying the Trump administration has once again threatened to withhold the funding.

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7th Circ. Won't Rehear Psychiatrists' Antitrust Suit Revival Bid

By Lauraann Wood

The Seventh Circuit is standing firm on a panel majority's refusal to revive an antitrust suit challenging the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology's certification maintenance requirement, having refused to rehear appellate arguments over a lower court decision tossing the case.

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Viamedia Seeks Late Addition To Ad Market Witness List

By Cara Salvatore

Viamedia Inc. asked an Illinois federal judge to allow a post-discovery witness addition to an upcoming trial against Comcast over competition in the cable ad sales market, saying it discovered the man's relevant knowledge after he joined Viamedia's board.

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7th Circ. Finds DEA, State Officials Immune In Pill Mill 'Mess'

By Gianna Ferrarin

The Seventh Circuit Monday overturned rulings that would have let a doctor's Fourth and Fifth amendments claims over a pill mill investigation go to trial, concluding federal and state officials are entitled to immunity in proceedings the court described as a "tangled mess."

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Equipment Rental Cos. Ask To Toss Pricing Software Claims

By Matthew Perlman

Construction equipment rental companies including United Rentals, Herc, The Home Depot and others have told an Illinois federal court the benchmarking service they use provides a wide range of prices and doesn't help them fix rental rates.

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Series

Judges On AI: How Courts Can Boost Access To Justice

Arizona Court of Appeals Judge Samuel A. Thumma writes that generative artificial intelligence tools offer a profound opportunity to enhance access to justice and engender public confidence in courts’ use of technology, and judges can seize this opportunity in five key ways.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Bough On Ethics

Years of experience as a plaintiff's attorney influenced U.S. District Judge Stephen Bough's disclosure rules for litigators appearing in his court.

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Jack Smith To Testify Publicly Next Week

By Courtney Bublé

Former special counsel Jack Smith is slated to testify publicly before the House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 22 after, according to his attorney, having been "ready and willing" to do so for a while.

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4th Circ. Combines DOJ Appeals Of Comey, James Dismissals

By Jack Karp

The Fourth Circuit has granted the Trump administration's request to combine its previously separate appeals of the dismissals of prosecutions against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

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Beasley Allen Talc Work Sends 'Bad Signal,' J&J Says

By George Woolston

Johnson & Johnson's talc unit told a New Jersey appeals panel on Tuesday that a lower court's ruling permitting Beasley Allen Law Firm attorneys to represent plaintiffs in multicounty litigation over its talc-based baby powder "sends a very bad signal" to the state bar.

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Former USPTO Solicitor Joins Orrick's Supreme Court Group

By Madison Arnold

A veteran U.S. Patent and Trademark Office attorney has come aboard Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in Washington, D.C., as a partner in the firm's Supreme Court and appellate practice, Orrick announced Tuesday.

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Eversheds Energy Pro Joins Greenberg Traurig In Texas

By Lynn LaRowe

Greenberg Traurig LLP announced Tuesday that it has strengthened its energy and natural resources practice with a shareholder in Austin, Texas, who most recently served as managing partner of Eversheds Sutherland's office in that city, as well as head of its state energy regulatory group.

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USC Gould Law School, Akerman Launch Law+AI Initiative

By James Mills

Akerman LLP is teaming with the University of Southern California's Gould School of Law to launch a Law+AI Initiative to help in developing the standards and regulatory path for full-scale artificial intelligence adoption across fields and industries.

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Ex-Atty, Others Charged In Staged New Orleans Crash Scheme

By Hope Patti

A disbarred attorney was hit with new charges claiming that he induced a witness to commit perjury and obstructed justice in the federal investigation of an insurance scam involving staged car crashes in the New Orleans area.

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Halligan Blasts Court's 'Inquisition' Over US Atty Status

By Ryan Boysen

Lindsey Halligan said Tuesday that she is still the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia despite a recent ruling to the contrary, dismissing a federal judge's questions about why she's still using the title as an "inquisition" and a "gross abuse of power."

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DLA Piper Can't Counsel Hudson Hotel In Ch. 11, Judge Says

By Alex Wittenberg

A Delaware bankruptcy judge Tuesday rejected a bid by two bankrupt entities tied to the former Hudson Hotel to retain DLA Piper LLP as special counsel in their Chapter 11 case, saying the law firm's work for the entities' lender presented a conflict of interest.

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Sen. Whitehouse Presses AG On Boasberg Complaint Results

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., ranking member of the courts panel on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is calling for Attorney General Pam Bondi to release the results of the disciplinary complaint she filed against Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia when the investigation wraps up.

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